Case-Control Study of Patients at Risk of Medical Complications after Elective Craniotomy

Resection of meningiomas located in motor eloquent areas - comparative analysis of navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation and conventional neuronavigation

BACKGROUND

Navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (nTMS) has been established as a preoperative diagnostic procedure in glioma surgery, increasing the extent of resection and preserving functional outcome. nTMS motor mapping for the resection of motor eloquent meningiomas has not been evaluated in a comparative analysis, yet.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective matched-pair analysis for tumor location and size in meningioma patients with tumors located over or close to the primary motor cortex. Half of the study population received nTMS motor mapping preoperatively (nTMS-group). The primary endpoint were permanent surgery-related motor deficits. Additional factors associated with new motor deficits were evaluated apart from nTMS.

RESULTS

62 patients (mean age 62 ± 15.8 years) were evaluated. 31 patients received preoperative nTMS motor mapping. In this group, motor thresholds (rMT) corresponded with tumor location and preoperative motor status, but could not predict motor outcome. No patient with preoperative intact motor function had a surgery-related permanent deficit in the nTMS group whereas four patients in the non-TMS group with preoperative intact motor status harbored from permanent deficits. 13 patients (21.3%) had a permanent motor deficit postoperatively with no difference between the nTMS and the non-TMS-group. Worsening in motor function was associated with higher patient age (p = 0.01) and contact to the superior sagittal sinus (p = 0.027).

CONCLUSION

nTMSmotor mapping did not lead to postoperative preservation in motorfunction. nTMS data corresponded well with the preoperative motorstatus and were associated with postoperative permanent deficits if tumors were located over the motor hotspot according to nTMS.

Impact of a Hospitalist Co-Management Program on Medical Complications and Length of Stay in Neurosurgical Patients

BACKGROUND

The impact of co-management on clinical outcomes in neurosurgical patients is uncertain. This study aims to describe the implementation of a hospitalist co-management program in a neurosurgery department and its impact on the incidence of complications, mortality, and length of stay.

METHODS

The authors used a quasi-experimental study design that compared a historical control period (July-December 2017) to a prospective intervention arm. During the intervention period, patients admitted to a neurosurgery inpatient unit who were older than 65 years, suffered certain conditions, or were admitted from ICUs were included in the co-management program. Two hospitalists joined the surgical staff and intervened in the diagnostic and therapeutical plan of patients, participating in clinical decisions and coordinating patient navigation with neurosurgeons. The incidence of moderate or severe complications measured by the Accordion Severity Grading System, in-hospital mortality, and length of stay of the two cohorts were compared. Multivariate regression was used to adjust for confounders, and the average treatment effect was estimated using inverse probability of treatment weighting.

RESULTS

The adjusted incidence of moderate or severe complications was lower among co-managed patients (odds ratio [OR] 0.60, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.39-0.91). Mortality was unchanged (OR 0.83, 95% CI 0.15-4.17). Length of stay was lower in co-managed patients, with a 1.3-day reduction observed after inverse probability of treatment weighting analysis.

CONCLUSION

Hospitalist co-management was associated with a reduced incidence of complications and length of stay in neurosurgical patients, but there was no difference in in-hospital mortality.

Enhanced Recovery After Surgery for Craniotomies: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

The efficacy of the enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols in neurosurgery has not yet been established. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to compare the effects of ERAS protocols and conventional perioperative care on postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing craniotomy. The primary outcome was postoperative length of hospital stay. Secondary outcomes included postoperative pain visual analog pain scores, incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), postoperative complications, all-cause reoperation, readmission after discharge, and mortality. A literature search up to August 10, 2023, was conducted using PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, and Scopus databases. Five studies, including 871 patients, were identified for inclusion in this review. Compared with conventional perioperative care, ERAS protocols reduced the length of postoperative hospital stay (difference of medians, -1.52 days; 95% CI: -2.55 to -0.49); there was high heterogeneity across studies (I2, 74%). ERAS protocols were also associated with a lower risk of PONV (relative risk, 0.79; 95% CI: 0.69-0.90; I2, 99%) and postoperative pain with a visual analog scale score ≥4 at postoperative day 1 (relative risk, 0.37; 95% CI: 0.28-0.49; I2, 14%). Other outcomes, including postoperative complications, did not differ between ERAS and conventional care groups. ERAS protocols may be superior to conventional perioperative care in craniotomy patients in terms of lower length of hospital stay, lower incidence of PONV, and improved postoperative pain scores. Further randomized trials are required to identify the impact of ERAS protocols on the quality of recovery after craniotomy.

Quality indicators and early adverse in surgery for atypical meningiomas: A 16-year single centre study and systematic review of the literature

Introduction

Atypical meningiomas represent approximately 20% of all intracranial meningiomas and are characterized by distinct histopathological criteria and an increased risk of postoperative recurrence. Recently, quality indicators have been introduced to monitor quality of the delivered care.

Research question

Which quality indicators/outcome measures are being applied in patients being operated for atypical meningiomas? What are risk factors associated with poor outcome? How is the surgical outcome and which quality indicators are reported in the literature?

Material and methods

The primary outcomes of interest were 30-days readmission-, 30-day reoperation-, 30-day mortality-, 30-day nosocomial infection- and the 30-day surgical site infection (SSI) rate, CSF-leakage, new neurological deficit, medical complications, and lengths of stay. The secondary aim was the identification of prognostic factors for the mentioned primary outcomes. A systematic review of the literature was performed screening studies for the mentioned outcomes.

Results

We included 52 patients. 30-days outcomes in terms of unplanned reoperation were 0%, unplanned readmission 7.7%, mortality 0%, nosocomial infection 17.3%, and SSI 0%. Any adverse event occurred in 30.8%. Preoperative C-reactive protein over 5 ​mg/l was independent factor for the occurrence of any postoperative adverse event (OR: 17.2, p ​= ​0.003). A total of 22 studies were included into the review.

Discussion and conclusion

The 30-days outcomes at our department were comparable with reported outcomes in the literature. Currently applied quality indicators are helpful in determining the postoperative outcome but mainly report the indirect outcome after surgery and are influenced of patient, tumor and treatment related factors. Risk adjustment is vital.

Intravenous AAV9 administration results in safe and widespread distribution of transgene in the brain of mini-pig

Animal models are important for understanding the pathogenesis of human diseases and for developing and testing new drugs. Pigs have been widely used in the research on the cardiovascular, skin barrier, gastrointestinal, and central nervous systems as well as organ transplantation. Recently, pigs also become an attractive large animal model for the study of neurodegenerative diseases because their brains are very similar to human brains in terms of mass, gully pattern, vascularization, and the proportions of the gray and white matters. Although adeno-associated virus type 9 (AAV9) has been widely used to deliver transgenes in the brain, its utilization in large animal models remains to be fully characterized. Here, we report that intravenous injection of AAV9-GFP can lead to widespread expression of transgene in various organs in the pig. Importantly, GFP was highly expressed in various brain regions, especially the striatum, cortex, cerebellum, hippocampus, without detectable inflammatory responses. These results suggest that intravenous AAV9 administration can be used to establish large animal models of neurodegenerative diseases caused by gene mutations and to treat these animal models as well.

Postoperative surveillance in cranial and spinal tumor neurosurgery: when is this warranted?

OBJECTIVE

The outbreak of COVID-19 and the sudden increase in the number of patients requiring mechanical ventilation significantly affected the management of neurooncological patients. Hospitals were forced to reallocate already scarce human resources to maximize intensive care unit (ICU) capacities, resulting in a significant postponement of elective procedures for patients with brain and spinal tumors, who traditionally require elective postoperative surveillance on ICU or intermediate care wards. This study aimed to characterize those patients in whom postoperative monitoring is required by analyzing early postoperative complications and associated risk factors.

METHODS

All patients included in the analysis experienced benign or malignant cerebral or intradural tumors and underwent surgery between September 2017 and May 2019 at University Hospital Münster, Germany. Patient data were generated from a semiautomatic, prospectively designed database. The occurrence of adverse events within 24 hours and 30 days postoperatively-including unplanned reoperation, postoperative hemorrhage, CSF leakage, and pulmonary embolism-was chosen as the primary outcome measure. Furthermore, reasons and risk factors that led to a prolonged stay on the ICU were investigated. By performing multivariable logistic regression modeling, a risk score for early postoperative adverse events was calculated by assigning points based on beta coefficients.

RESULTS

Eight hundred eleven patients were included in the study. Eleven patients (1.4%) had an early adverse event within 24 hours, which was either an unplanned reoperation (0.9%, n = 7) or a pulmonary embolism (0.5%, n = 4) within 24 hours. To predict the incidence of early postoperative complications, a score was developed including the number of secondary diagnoses, BMI, and incision closure time, termed the SOS score. According to this score, 0.3% of the patients were at low risk, 2.5% at intermediate risk, and 12% at high risk (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Postoperative surveillance in cranial and spinal tumor neurosurgery might only be required in a distinct patient collective. In this study, the authors present a new score allowing efficient prediction of the likelihood of early adverse events in patients undergoing neurooncological procedures, thus helping to stratify the necessity for ICU or intermediate care unit beds. Nevertheless, validation of the score in a multicenter prospective setting is needed.

Venous thromboembolic and hemorrhagic events after meningioma surgery: A single-center retrospective cohort study of risk factors

Microsurgical resection of meningiomas in a majority of cases leads to a favorable outcome. Therefore, severe postoperative adverse events are less acceptable. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence of symptomatic venous thromboembolism (VTE) and hemorrhagic complications in patients after operative treatment of intracranial meningiomas and to identify the risk factors in this patient subgroup. Of 106 patients undergoing elective craniotomy for meningioma overall incidence of symptomatic VTE was noted in 5.7% (six patients). For the risk-factor analysis older age (57.20 ± 11.60 vs. 71.00 ± 0.90 years, p < 0.001), higher body mass index (27.60 ± 4.80 vs. 33.16 ± 0.60 kg/m², p < 0.001), WHO grade II (3.00% vs. 33.33%, p = 0.02), lower intraoperative blood loss (466.00 ± 383.70 vs. 216.70 ± 68.30 mL, p < 0.001), bedridden status and neurologic deficit (0.00% vs. 33.33%, p = 0.003 and 38.00% vs. 100.00%, p = 0.004) were associated with greater VTE risk. No risk factors for hemorrhagic complications were identified on univariate analysis. In conclusion, the incidence of VTE in meningioma patients is not negligible. Identified risk factors should be taken into account in the decision-making process for chemoprophylaxis when the risk of bleeding decreases.

Predictors of readmission after craniotomy for meningioma resection: a nationwide readmission database analysis

BACKGROUND

Meningiomas are the most common benign primary brain tumors. The mainstay of treatment, surgical resection, is often curative. Given the excellent prognosis of these lesions, minimizing perioperative complications is of the utmost importance. With the establishment of the National Readmissions Database (NRD), researchers are now able to identify variables associated with postoperative complications beyond the index admission.

OBJECTIVE

In this study, we sought to identify the leading causes for non-elective readmission and variables associated with increased likelihood of readmission at 30 and 90 days after discharge following a craniotomy for meningioma resection.

METHODS

Adult inpatients who underwent craniotomy for meningioma resection between 2010 and 2014 were queried from the NRD. All-cause readmissions following craniotomy at 30 and 90 days were identified, and a multivariable logistic regression model was used to characterize independent risk factors.

RESULTS

Among 26,034 patients who received craniotomy for meningioma resection, 2825 (10.9%) were readmitted at 30 days and 3436 (16.1%) were readmitted at 90 days. Postoperative wound infection was the most common readmission diagnosis, occurring in 9.32% and 10.2% of 30- and 90-day readmissions respectively. Patient factors associated with increased likelihood of readmission included male gender, greater illness severity, non-routine discharge, index length of hospitalization, and having Medicare or Medicaid insurance.

CONCLUSIONS

Readmission following craniotomy for meningioma resection occurs at a clinically significant rate. Several patient factors were identified in association with all-cause 30- and 90-day readmissions. Further studies are required to identify means for preventing complications following discharge in these vulnerable patient populations.

The Utility of Routine Intensive Care Admission for Patients Undergoing Intracranial Neurosurgical Procedures: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

Patients who have undergone intracranial neurosurgical procedures have traditionally been admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) for close postoperative neurological observation. The purpose of this study was to systematically review the evidence for routine ICU admission in patients undergoing intracranial neurosurgical procedures and to evaluate the safety of alternative postoperative pathways.

METHODS

We were interested in identifying studies that examined selected patients who presented for elective, non-emergent intracranial surgery whose postoperative outcomes were compared as a function of ICU versus non-ICU admission. A systematic review was performed in July 2016 using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses checklist of the Medline database. The search strategy was created based on the following key words: "craniotomy," "neurosurgical procedure," and "intensive care unit."

RESULTS

The nine articles that satisfied the inclusion criteria yielded a total of 2227 patients. Of these patients, 879 were observed in a non-ICU setting. The most frequent diagnoses were supratentorial brain tumors, followed by patients with cerebrovascular diseases and infratentorial brain tumors. Three percent (30/879) of the patients originally assigned to floor or intermediate care status were transferred to the ICU. The most frequently observed neurological complications leading to ICU transfer were delayed postoperative neurological recovery, seizures, worsening of neurological deficits, hemiparesis, and cranial nerves deficits.

CONCLUSION

Our systematic review demonstrates that routine postoperative ICU admission may not benefit carefully selected patients who have undergone elective intracranial neurosurgical procedures. In addition, limiting routine ICU admission may result in significant cost savings.

Brain Tumor Surgery is Safe in Octogenarians and Nonagenarians: A Single-Surgeon 741 Patient Series

OBJECTIVES

Elderly patients with surgically accessible brain tumors are often not offered clinically indicated brain tumor surgery (BTS) because of to assumptions of greater risk for perioperative morbidity and mortality. Because brain tumor incidence is highest in the geriatric population, and because the global population is aging, accurate understanding of BTS risk in elderly patients is critical. We aimed to compare safety of BTS in elderly patients with younger counterparts to better understand the risk-benefit profile of BTS for elderly patients.

METHODS

Retrospective cohort study of young (20-29 years), senior (60-79 years), and elderly (80+ years) patients who underwent BTS with a single neurosurgeon. Differences between pre- and postoperative modified Rankin score (ΔmRS), length of hospitalization (LOH), complication rate, and 30-day readmission rates (30DRR) were recorded.

RESULTS

A total of 741 patients (83 elderly, 570 senior, and 88 young) were identified. No significant difference in preoperative mRS between different age groups, χ² = 0.269, P = 0.874. Elderly complication rate was 6.0%, not significantly different from young (4.5%, P = 0.667) or senior (7.2%, P = 0.696) complication rate. Elderly LOH was 1.93 ± SD 0.176 days; not significantly different from young (3.01 ± 0.384 days, P = 0.081) or senior (2.47 ± 0.144 days, P = 0.881). Statistical equivalence testing showed with 95% confidence that there was equivalence in ΔmRS among age groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Elderly patients did not have significantly different ΔmRS, LOH, 30DRR, or complication rates after BTS compared with younger counterparts. Therefore, in healthy patients, advanced age alone should not prevent patients from being offered BTS.

Associations between smoking and postoperative complications following elective craniotomy

BACKGROUND

Evidence of postoperative complications associated with smoking has varied. We conducted this study to clarify the relationships between tobacco smoking and postoperative complications following craniotomy.

METHODS

A retrospective cohort analysis identified 800 patients who underwent cranial surgery with general anesthesia at a medical center with 2,700 beds in Seoul, Korea between January and December 2011.

RESULTS

Prior smokers (34.8%) and current smokers (35.1%) were hospitalized for at least 11 days longer than never smokers (25.5%) (x2 = 6.74, p = 0.036). There were no statistically significant differences in the incidence of postoperative complications among never smokers (5.2%), prior smokers (9.6%), and current smokers (9.6%). The incidences of postoperative complications among prior smokers (9.6%) and current smokers (9.6%) were similar. Comparisons between never smokers (25.5%) and current smokers (34.9%) showed smokers had longer hospital stays and a higher incidence of complications (x2 = 6.74, p = 0.012). The incidence of major complications (x2 = 5.27, p = 0.024) and overall complications (x2 = 4.84, p = 0.033) were also significantly higher among smokers than never smokers. The impact of smoking status on postoperative complications was not identified.

CONCLUSIONS

We found significant associations between smoking status and postoperative complications. The incidence of major complications was twice as high among smokers as among never smokers. Therefore, it is recommended to continuously monitor current smokers to prevent postoperative complications after craniotomy.

Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging for detection of postoperative intracranial pyogenic abscesses in neurosurgery

BACKGROUND

Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI-DWI) is the modality of choice for detecting intracranial abscesses; however, it is unclear whether prior brain surgery has an influence on its diagnostic value. Thus, we assessed the robustness of MRI-DWI and determination of an ADC cutoff value for detecting intracranial abscesses in patients who underwent brain surgery.

METHODS

We retrospectively evaluated 19 patients prior to surgery for postoperative supratentorial parenchymal abscesses by means of MRI-DWI. Forty randomly selected patients with routine postoperative MRI-DWI were used for comparative analyses. Clinical and serum biomarkers (C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, white blood cell count) as well as from results of early postoperative imaging findings (computed tomography and/or MRI scan) were recorded. Additionally, ADC values, T1±gadolinium, and T2/fluid-attenuated inversion recovery sequences were investigated.

RESULTS

After initial surgery, early postoperative control imaging showed evidence of hemorrhage and/or hemostatic agents within the resection cavity in 10/19 patients of the abscess group and in 16/40 patients of the control group. No postoperative ischemia was detected. Neither hemostatic agents nor blood affected the mean ADC values in both the reference group (blood 2.96 ± 0.22 × 10^-3 mm²/s vs. no blood 2.95 ± 0.26 × 10^-3 mm²/s, p = 0.076) and in the abscess group (blood 0.87 ± 0.07 × 10^-3 mm²/s vs. no blood 0.76 ± 0.06 × 10^-3 mm²/s, p = 0.128). The mean ADC value within the resection cavity was significantly lower in the abscess group (1.5 T 0.88 ± 0.41 vs. 2.88 ± 0.20 × 10^-3 mm²/s, p < .01; 3.0 T 0.75 ± 0.24 vs. 3.02 ± 0.26 × 10^-3 mm²/s, p < 0.01). The optimal ADC cut-off for the differentiation of an abscess from normal postoperative findings was found at 1.87 × 10^-3 mm²/s (area-under-the-curve 1.0, sensitivity = 100%, specificity = 100%). Moreover, no differences between the abscess patients and the control group were seen with respect to the analyzed serum biomarkers.

CONCLUSION

MRI-DWI provides a robust tool to discriminate postoperative abscess formation from normal postoperative changes.

Ischemic stroke following elective craniotomy in children

OBJECTIVE An ischemic stroke following an elective craniotomy in a child is perceived to be a rare event. However, to date there are few papers on this topic. The purpose of this study was to investigate the occurrence of stroke following elective intracranial surgery at a children’s hospital. METHODS The authors performed a retrospective review of all patients who developed a perioperative stroke following an elective craniotomy from 2010 through 2017. Data were collected using an institutional database that contained demographic, medical, radiological, and outcome variables. RESULTS A total of 1591 elective craniotomies were performed at the authors’ institution during the study period. Of these, 28 (1.8%) were followed by a perioperative stroke. Radiographic diagnosis of the infarction occurred at a median of 1.7 days (range 0–9 days) from the time of surgery, and neurological deficits were apparent within 24 hours of surgery in 18 patients (62.5%). Infarcts tended to occur adjacent to tumor resection sites (86% of cases), and in a unilateral (89%), unifocal (93%), and supratentorial (93%) location. Overall, 11 (39.3%) strokes were due to a perforating artery, 10 (35.7%) were due to a large vessel, 4 (14.3%) were venous, and 3 (10.7%) were related to hypoperfusion or embolic causes. Intraoperative MRI (iMRI) was used in 11 of the 28 cases, and 6 (55%) infarcts were not detected, all of which were deep. CONCLUSIONS The incidence of stroke following an elective craniotomy is low, with nearly all cases (86%) occurring after tumor resection. Perforator infarcts were most common but may be missed on iMRI. ABBREVIATIONS ACA = anterior cerebral artery; AChA = anterior choroidal artery; ACS NSQIP-P = American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program–Pediatric; CVA = cerebrovascular accident; DWI = diffusion weighted imaging; iMRI = intraoperative MRI; MCA = middle cerebral artery; mRS = modified Rankin Scale; PCA = posterior cerebral artery.

[Complications and monitoring standards after elective craniotomy in Germany]

BACKGROUND

The increasing endeavors to make inpatient treatment processes more effective leads to a reduction of the length of stay in hospital and minimization of postoperative monitoring. Therefore, the aim of our study was to determine potential postoperative complications for neurosurgical patients undergoing elective surgery with respect to assessment of the relevance for intensive medical care. Furthermore, our approach was compared with the standard of postoperative care of such patients in Germany.

METHODS

All 499 patients scheduled for elective craniotomy at our institute from 2010-2013 could be included corresponding to various treatment criteria for vascular diseases, such as aneurysms, arteriovenous malformation (AVM) and cavernous hemangioma as well as supratentorial and infratentorial tumors, transsphenoidally operated pituitary adenomas and stereotactic biopsies. All complications could be collated and categorized according to major and minor complications. Furthermore, a survey was conducted among 155 neurosurgical hospitals and departments with respect to the preferred postoperative monitoring strategy for the named treatment categories.

RESULTS

The numbers of major complication were in accordance with data from other studies and although minor complications (13.4% in our collective) are rarely recorded in the literature, they do however indicate an adequate postoperative inpatient monitoring. The results of the survey showed a broad preference for intensive care unit monitoring of patients undergoing elective craniotomy in Germany.

CONCLUSION

The undisputed gold standard of postoperative monitoring of neurosurgical patients undergoing elective surgery is still the intensive care unit. Although more flexible surveillance modalities are available, a cost-driven restructuring of postoperative monitoring and in particular reduction of the length of stay in hospital must be subjected to detailed scrutinization.